The ‘secret weapon’ behind Princess Beatrice’s glow-up

It is an accolade that has been hard won: just 13 years ago, Princess Beatrice was widely ridiculed for the Philip Treacy hat she wore to the wedding of her cousin Prince William and Kate Middleton, taking the crown as Britain’s worst-dressed royal.

With remarkable sangfroid, she sold the outre headpiece – variously described as a Turkey Twizzler, giant Pretzel, loo seat or cat flap – on eBay, raising £81,000 for charity.

Now, in an incredible turnaround, she has been crowned this year’s best-dressed person by Tatler magazine, which described her as a ‘beacon of sartorial elegance, pairing vintage-inspired cuts with fresh-from-the-catwalk glamour’.

So, what is the secret behind the rise and rise in the sartorial glow-up of Princess Beatrice? 

Step forward stylist extraordinaire Olivia Buckingham, dubbed ‘society’s secret weapon’ by Tatler. 

She has hauled Beatrice from 15th place on the best dressed list four years ago to number one today, dressing her in some of the Princess of Wales’s favourite labels, including Emilia Wickstead and Beulah.

Beatrice, 36, is not the only member of the Royal Family to have a stylist on speed dial. Queen Camilla inherited her dresser Jacqui Meakin from the late Queen Mother and Kate’s former personal assistant Natasha Archer has transformed her into a global style icon. 

Meanwhile, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, Zara Tindall and Princess Eugenie have all hired personal style advisors for royal events and special occasions – and the results have met with resounding approval.

So, who are the stylists breathing fresh life into royal wardrobes while waving the flag for British fashion?

Princess Beatrice 

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: 1 in 2024

STYLIST: Olivia Buckingham

A friend of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex – they attended Wimbledon together in 2017 – Olivia Buckingham, 41, began styling Beatrice the year before her 2020 wedding to property developer Edo Mapelli Mozzi, when Bea memorably wore a vintage Norman Hartnell dress lent by her grandmother Queen Elizabeth.

Along with fashion stylist Lady Emily Compton – together they formed bespoke styling service Emily & Olivia – she chose the navy blue lace Self-Portrait gown Bea wore to the wedding of Lady Gabriella Windsor in 2019. 

Since then, Olivia, who lives in Notting Hill, West London, has gone solo but is still on Beatrice’s payroll.

The great-granddaughter of Noel Croucher, who co-founded the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Olivia went to Heathfield School – alma mater of designer Daphne Guinness, actress Marisa Berenson and writer Susannah Constantine – before working as a fashion assistant at Hong Kong Tatler. She moved back to Britain in 2019, working as a contributor for Vogue Hong Kong.

Despite suffering a bout of sciatica and a ruptured appendix during lockdown, she has become a styling sensation, making her way onto last year’s best-dressed list herself and styling the likes of long-time friend Poppy Delevingne and rapper Eve (number 12 on Tatler’s best-dressed list).

‘What an absolute honour it has been to be able to work with such a kind, loyal and beautiful girl inside and out,’ she gushed on Instagram on Bea’s 36th birthday.

‘I’m so grateful for the fashion journey we have been on together and the undeniable friendship we have formed. 

‘Working with you brings me so much joy – I’m so proud of you and everything you have achieved. To many more collaborative styling opportunities and life adventures.’

The Princess of Wales 

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: 10 in 2018; 1 in 2022

STYLIST: Natasha Archer

Trendsetter Natasha Archer has been credited with styling the Princess of Wales – but, while she acts as Kate’s dresser, scouring websites for the latest trends, ordering in clothes, ironing the royal wardrobe and dragging around her wheelie suitcase, Kate, 42, makes her own choices.

It is 37-year-old Tash, as she is known, who persuaded Kate to be more fashion-forward, transforming her from girl-next-door to fashion icon by encouraging her to wear wide-legged trousers, pussy-bow blouses and midi dresses.

She has been responsible for some of her boldest looks, including a bright red Preen cocktail gown during the 2016 Canada tour and a teal silk chiffon kaftan that Kate wore when visiting Lahore’s Badshahi Mosque.

The women move in similar social circles – Tash boarded at Uppingham School, before reading Hispanic Studies at King’s College, London University. 

She worked for the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester before joining the Royal Household in 2007 as William and Kate’s personal assistant.

In 2017 she married royal photographer Chris Jackson in a medieval French mansion near Bordeaux. 

Two years later, she was made a Member of the Royal Victorian Order at Buckingham Palace in recognition of her services to the Royal Family.

Sophie, The Duchess of Edinburgh 

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: Not yet

STYLISTS: Georgie Pincus and Pandora Delevingne

When former PR executive Sophie Rhys-Jones joined The Firm 25 years ago, she was not a natural clothes horse, but since her wedding to Prince Edward – where she wowed crowds with her stunning Samantha Keswick wedding gown – Sophie, 59, has become one of the most elegant members of the Royal Family, hence her patronage of the London College of Fashion. 

Her slow but striking transformation is down to not one, but two stylists.

Her close friend and fashion consultant Georgie Pincus, 53 – who studied fashion at the Paris College of Art and lives in Ascot, Berkshire, near the Duchess’s home in Bagshot Park – encouraged Sophie to ditch the corporate suits and embrace more feminine, refined dresses and jumpsuits, by designers popular with the younger royals, such as Emilia Wickstead and Suzannah London.

Pandora Delevingne, mother of supermodel Cara, who was once a personal shopper at Selfridges, also helped hone her quiet style revolution.

The pair are reportedly behind a number of Sophie’s sleek looks, including an Altuzarra double-breasted white blazer and a chic burgundy midi skirt complete with Prada heels last year.

Princess Eugenie 

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: Not yet

STYLIST: Sarah Price

While Beatrice was widely-derided for the hat she wore to William and Kate’s wedding, her younger sister Eugenie, 34, was described as being ‘wrong from top to bottom’ in her Vivienne Westwood outfit. 

Their mother, Sarah Ferguson, hired stylist Charlie Anderson to ‘turn around’ their image but it was Irish stylist Sarah Price, who has since taken over her mantle, encouraging Eugenie into more fitted designs which highlight her hourglass figure.

Price, 44, who enjoys spinning classes and yoga, introduced the princess to the designers Peter Pilotto and Christopher de Vos, who designed the elegant wedding gown she wore at her 2018 marriage to Jack Brooksbank, which famously showed her scar from her spine surgery.

Price has impeccable connections. She graduated from New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology before working with the renowned Hollywood stylist Rachel Zoe at trendy US brand Halston.

She then set up her own company, Style Tonic, in West London’s uber-fashionable Portobello Road, where it’s impossible to get an appointment: she is so discreet and in-demand that she only takes referrals.

Zara Phillips 

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: Not yet

STYLIST: Annie Miall

As an Olympic equestrian, Zara initially struggled in the fashion spotlight, being more comfortable in jodhpurs and country attire.

 But the 43-year-old mother of three has won fashion plaudits recently for her elegant dresses and co-ordinating hats.

Who can forget the £1,500 Laura Green dress she teamed with a pink Sarah Cant boater for the Buckingham Palace Royal Garden Party, which favourably drew comparisons with the actress Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady? Or the Laura Green buttercup yellow dress, Anna Mason floral gown, and Rebecca Vallance cornflower blue number she wore to Royal Ascot?

Zara credits her transformation from chrysalis to butterfly to Australian Annie Miall, who has a background in psychology. 

An HR professional turned stylist, she charges £325 for a consultation and £575 for the first styling service to clients including Zara, Natalie Pinkham and Sally Phillips. It may feel fabulous to look that good – but it isn’t cheap.

Queen Camilla

TATLER’S BEST-DRESSED LIST: 4 in 2018

STYLIST: Jacqui Meakin

Back when she was still casual Camilla Parker-Bowles, she famously held her jeans together with a safety pin because she couldn’t be bothered to mend the zip.

But Camilla has steadily evolved into a royal style icon thanks to her chirpy Geordie dresser Jacqui Meakin, her stylist since her 2005 wedding to Charles, where she wore a Robinson Valentine embroidered pale blue and gold coat over a matching chiffon gown.

The late Queen’s mother’s dresser helped Camilla, 77, transform her wardrobe from that of a country woman to the most senior member of the Royal Family, with a working wardrobe appropriate for her age. 

Along with Valentine, her favourite couturiers include Bruce Oldfield and Fiona Clare.

But Camilla is not averse to creating sartorial waves and taking risks when she is flying solo, without her husband by her side. 

She chose a cobalt blue Anna Valentine jumpsuit for the Coronation concert and her inaugural Queen’s Reading Room literary festival, proving she has her finger firmly on the fashion pulse.

Like the Princess of Wales, her favourite colour is blue. As Queen, she has first dibs on wearing the colour, but Jacqui, 63, has reportedly ‘relaxed’ the rule so other members of The Firm can wear it as long as it’s a different shade, so as not to ruffle any royal feathers.